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Italy captain Sergio Parisse and Martin Castrogiovanni will make their 100th international appearances for Italy in Saturday’s match against Fiji.
Jacques Brunel has made eight changes from the side that was thumped 50-20 by Australia in Turin last weekend.
JP Pietersen will on Sunday become the 28th player to reach 50 Springbok Test caps when he runs out against Scotland at Murrayfield in Edinburgh in the second match of the Castle Lager Outgoing Tour.
The 27-year-old Pietersen, who will return from Japan to Durban to play for The Sharks in Vodacom Super Rugby next season, made his Test debut on 9 September 2006 against Australia in Johannesburg when he was only 20.
England have made one change to the team that beat Argentina for this weekend’s Test at Twickenham against New Zealand’s All Blacks.
England hooker Dylan Hartley will win 50th England cap this weekend when he faces the country of his birth.
Coach Ewen McKenzie axed veteran prop Ben Alexander as he looks to cure Australia’s scrum ailments ahead of their Test against Ireland.
Philippe Saint Andre has made five changes to the France starting line-up for the test against Tonga in Le Harve on Saturday, the coach opting to overhaul a side that lost 26-19 to New Zealand last week.
Back-to-back Super Rugby Champions the Chiefs, NPC champions Canterbury and the Rugby Championship-winning All Blacks dominate this year’s annual celebration of the best of New Zealand.
The 2013 awards will be held in Auckland on Thursday, December 5.
All Black coach Steve Hansen made just one change to his starting line-up for Saturday’s revenge mission against England.
As expected, star flyhalf Dan Carter will pick up his 100th Test cap, as New Zealand aim to make amends for a shock loss to England last year – Hansen’s only defeat since taking the reins in 2011.
The announcement of the South African Springboks side to face Scotland is expected this afternoon (Thursday 14 November 2013) and all the noises from the Springbok camp seem to be positive.
Bakkies Botha, affectionately called “Oom Bakkies” by some of the Bokke young guns is having a profound mentoring affect on the young charges in the side, specially on Eben Etzebeth and Pieter-Steph du Toit.
For the 2nd Test of the tour, the Springboks are set to announce a number of changes in the match 23, most notably in the front row, locks & looseforwards.
European rugby’s new club competition is a “train that has left the station” but there is still just time to pick up the Heineken Cup refuseniks, the head of the English Premiership said on Wednesday.
Although there are still a number of issues to be finalised, notably about the governance, the English and French leagues and the Welsh regions are all committed to the new two-tier “Rugby Champions Cup” which will swing into action next season.
The Reds will start their 2014 Super Rugby campaign with a pre-season match against defending champions, the Chiefs, in Toowoomba on 8 February 2013.
Reds head coach Richard Graham said the trial would provide his team with a good platform to launch their season.
Australian international wing Digby Ioane is still waiting for the medical staff of his Top 14 club Stade Francais to give him permission to start playing again, he said on Wednesday.
South African Rugby Union (SARU) president Oregan Hoskins wants to see a 17-team Super Rugby competition in future with fewer local derbies and an Argentine team in the mix.
The Super Rugby format is set to change from 2016 when a new broadcast deal takes effect and Hoskins would like to see a change from the current 15-team format.
Australia have dropped to fourth on the IRB world rankings and appear to be a team on the slide.
However, Ireland defence coach Les Kiss believes that the Wallabies are in fact a team making strides in the right direction – or as he put it, a giant awakening after slumbering through a season of discontent.
England’s front row crisis worsened afer it was confirmed that Alex Corbisiero has been ruled out of Saturday’s Test against the All Blacks at Twickenham.
England are also without Mako Vunipola, who is nursing a knee injury, while Joe Marler still has to pass a concussion test to prove his fitness.
Samoa centre George Pisi is set to miss the remainder of his country’s matches in November after he was handed a six week ban for a tip tackle on Ireland wing Tommy Bowe during last Saturday’s 40-9 hammering by the Irish at Lansdowne Road.
The South African Rugby Players’ Association (SARPA) has expressed concern at the financial situation at the Border Bulldogs.
The crisis started when players at the East London-based union did not receive their match fees for the month of September, and salaries for October have not been paid in full.
France’s Jérôme Garcès will referee the Scotland v Springboks Test at Murrayfield in Edinburgh on Sunday.
Kick-off is at 17:00.
Rugby fans can start voting for their own International Player of the Year and World XV of the Year following the release of a 45-strong shortlist of contenders.
Part of the inaugural Ultimate Rugby IRPA Awards, the Fans’ Player of the Year, and World XV of the Year will be decided by votes cast on Ultimate Rugby’s mobile app, and announced in conjunction with other category winners on November 26.
New Zealand’s Kieran Read says his side will be more eager to mark Dan Carter’s 100th cap with a good performance than avenge last year’s loss to England when the teams meet on Saturday.
Carter, 31, will become the fifth All Black to reach a century of caps if he plays at Twickenham.
England centre Manu Tuilagi could miss next year’s Six Nations after his club Leicester revealed on Tuesday that he will be sidelined until February with a chest injury.
Auckland based Super Rugby franchise the Blues have made two new key appointments to their management team ahead of the 2014 Super Rugby season.
Richard Fry has been appointed manager of rugby, while former Blues star Isa Nacewa will assume the role of mental skills coach.
The South African Rugby Union (SARU) on Monday confirmed the names of 10 Springboks who were awarded long-term national contracts in August this year, which will see them remain in South Africa until the end of 2015.
The Barbarians have announced that four more Springbok players will represent them when they tackle Fiji later this month.
A new black-owned side, Eye of the Tiger Academy, will compete with other privately owned teams for the prize money of R1 million at the George Sevens Premier League.
Wales and Scarlets centre Jonathan Davies has signed a two-year contract with Clermont, the French Top 14 club announced on Tuesday.
Although his passion for Test rugby remains, All Blacks hooker Andrew Hore’s time in the Test arena appears to be drawing to a close.
His legs may be growing weary but the Wallabies are wary of Irish great Brian O’Driscoll’s rugby brain in this weekend’s Test of character in Dublin.
O’Driscoll is into his 15th and final season for Ireland as he prepares for his 135th Test cap and last battle with Australia at the old Lansdowne Road.
Combining a fair bit of Springbok news, as speculation flows…
John McFarland, Springbok defensive coach says the Springbok defences were already better last week compared to the previous game against the All Blacks.
Scribes worry and remind Bakkies Botha to keep his dicipline on field and not to succumb to the “Red Mist” od ill-dicipline and the real threat of Yellow or Red Cards.
It also appears that both the formidable frame of young Pieter-Steph du Toit (lock) and that of Patrick Lambie will be in the run-on side for the Springboks on the weekend, with scribes writing up the virtues of Pieter-Steph du Toit almost non-stop, whilst others consider Lambie the perfect fir for the Scotland game.
Ireland will be without Keith Earls and Chris Henry in Saturday’s Test against Australia in Dublin.
Chris Rattue, one of the well-known New Zealand Rugby Journalists, wants Dan Carter not to be selected for the England clash and he believes Dan does not have the magic of old anymore.
The home and away Super Rugby derby matches could be dropped in favour of playing every team when the tournament format is restructured in 2016.
The current Super Rugby format has split teams into three conference of five teams each and the teams in the conferences play opposition teams on a home and away basis.
International news is flowing like a river in flood today, seems I have been updating all day, today… but we like it that way, don’t we!
Reviews of the Fourie du Preez try, clearly shows that Jaque Fourie was ahead of Fourie du Preez when he kicked, did not retreat and the subsequent try, however well-worked, should not have been awarded. Another blemish on refereeing in 2013!
Looking ahead at this weekend’s clash against Scotland, it appears at this stage if Bakkies Botha might get a starting berth at lock and it looks likely that Patrick Lambie will get the nod at flyhalf.
Meanwhile Morné Steyn is responding well to treatment for his back spasm injury and it looks likely that he’ll also be ready for Sunday’s match.
The Springboks’ victory over Wales on Saturday has slightly narrowed the gap between them and the All Blacks at the top of the IRB world rankings.
Scotland coach Scott Johnson was struggling to evaluate his side’s win over Japan as he looked ahead to the sterner tests that South Africa and Australia are sure to pose at Murrayfield on the next two weekends.
It was not the perfect weekend for the All Blacks, with France running them close. This begs the question whether Daniel Carter is still the flyhalf maestro he once was.
All Blacks coach, Steve Hansen, says the All Blacks will be better against England compared to how they went against France.